Europe or somewhere else with your points?

[SuzieQMomof3]

I was wondering if anyone has used their DVC points to stay anywhere other than WDW, Hilton Head or Hawaii. I've been thinking of taking the kids to Europe in a few years and thought someone might have an exerience he or she wanted to share.

Thanks,
Susan

 

[Agent J]

We stayed at the Marriott Marbella Beach Resort in Spain - it is on the Costa del Sol (they have a small private section of beach fenced off - on the Mediterranean Sea)....beautiful resort with indoor and outdoor pools, a restaurant and lounge - 2 bedroom villas were gorgeous (marble tiles, very spacious)...the surrounding town is very busy and you will definitely need a car if you want to leave the resort but there are lots of day trips close by - we toured along the coast, up the mountains to Ronda, went to Gibraltar (park on the Spanish side and walk through the border crossing) and booked a tour to Tangiers, Morrocco through the resort...we split our stay between Portugal and Spain so we drove back to Portugal through Seville, spent 1/2 day sightseeing (definitely worth the visit)

We went in Late October/Early November so the points were only 124 (we thought that was pretty good) for the week in a 2 bdrm (we had requested a one bedroom but they didn't have any and put us in a 2 bdrm - i don't think that resort has 1 bdrm villas)

We were 3 adults (this was my Mom's 60th birthday trip) so not sure what activities there are for kids - we saw a few but not lots probably the time of year with school in session

if you are interested, tripadviser.com had some helpful reviews

 

[vhoffman]

I'd be interested in following this thread, because I'd like some new vacation ideas. We've worn out Disney and Hawaii. something new for a change!

I was thinking perhaps the next trip could be a car/van driving trip. We always traveled by air in the past, due to time constraints. We usually got some if not all our tickets free by using ff miles. However, the ff miles are getting harder to obtain and use. We really couldn't afford to pay for 4 plane tickets!

So, where to go on a driving trip? Or perhaps another air trip if we can swing it. I'd just like to hear others ideas to get some of my own. I'm looking at Smoky Mountains for a driving trip, however, it would be a LOT of driving--about 1000 miles each way (we live near Dallas, TX) Well, looking for ideas!

 

[mikayla73]

Here are a couple ideas I came up with off the top of my head that maybe an OK drive ...

1. Hilton Head
2. Grand Canyon
3. Santa Fe, New Mexico
4. Coastal Alabama or Mississippi
5. Williamsburg, VA
6. Other places in TX? Or OK?
7. Branson, MO

Driving trips can be fun if you make the drive part of the fun rather than just a way to get from point a to b. We live in MO and generally take a couple driving trips each year - KC, MO, Chicago, Louisville, KY ... all fairly close to us.

 

[vhoffman]

Thanks for the ideas. This summer is half over and we've had our big trip (Hawaii!), looking for ideas for next year. Why not stay closer to home? I have an idea for this summer--a tour of our town! How about one of those Grey Line tours of our own city? Got the idea yesterday when I saw a bunch of tour buses around town. Why not? A little mini-vacation right here at home!

 

[SuzieQMomof3]

Thanks, Agent J, that's exactly what I'm looking for.

Anyone else?

 

[Merilyn]

The Smokey's are a beautiful place to visit. We live in west TN but love to go to Gatlingburg, TN for the mountain views. It would be a very nice trip for you but it would be a long way. I also liked the idea of Branson, maybe closer? With airfare so high this year, we are also going to drive. We leave for OKW in Oct. Can't afford those $400 airline tickets there. Hope you find a great trip!
Merilyn

 

[BlakeNJ]

Here are a couple ideas I came up with off the top of my head that maybe an OK drive ...

1. Hilton Head
2. Grand Canyon
3. Santa Fe, New Mexico
4. Coastal Alabama or Mississippi
5. Williamsburg, VA
6. Other places in TX? Or OK?
7. Branson, MO

Driving trips can be fun if you make the drive part of the fun rather than just a way to get from point a to b. We live in MO and generally take a couple driving trips each year - KC, MO, Chicago, Louisville, KY ... all fairly close to us.

Just lurking...I would love to convince my DH to buy into DVC but I would need more to go on than trips to WDW year after year. Can you book the above vacations using points? Thanks.

 

[vhoffman]

Oh, dear, where to go whe I've run out of ff miles????We curtailed our traveling when our kids were little (changing diapers in the Magic Kingdom just isn't my idea of a hot time!). Then I looked at our AMEX Membership Miles account and realized we had almost 300,000 miles! That's what happens when you don't use them--they grow! Kinda like a savings account Well, the kids were about 5 then so we decided to do some traveling. For awhile it worked--use some miles,earn some miles. However, it reached a point where we don't have many miles -seems if you take out more than you put in you wind up with .....not much....kinda like a savings account.

Well, since the days of free air travel are over, we need to look at some driving trips. I might get run off this board for saying this, but we've kind of worn out WDW. I mean, there is too much of a good thing, even Disney! It would be a long ways to drive. So, what's within a good driving distance of Central Texas? Answer--Central Texas! That's the problem with living in Texas--there's so much of it! Sorry, just rambling here. Seems planning trips are a hobby of mine and I'm at loose ends without another trip to plan, even if it is another year away. Well, maybe we'll try the Smokys over Spring break--more time, and I understand the weather is good then..................would also like to do Europe, one country at a time! My parents did a 3-week tour, 5 countries, came back totally exhausted!

 

[Dean]

Just lurking...I would love to convince my DH to buy into DVC but I would need more to go on than trips to WDW year after year. Can you book the above vacations using points? Thanks.

Unfortunately, buying DVC for the purpose of using elsewhere is not a good value or reasonable option.